Thank you so much for all of your kind words and replies. I am very grateful to all of you who have waited this long for me to continue the story. To my friend who not only Beta's this story but who is my northern star, Norbertsmom you rock lady. Also to Sunsetsmydream thank you for proofreading the story in its infancy and letting me know I'm not off my rocker. And to BBA...yeah you've been my sounding board for all of the craziness my buttercup is dedicated to you.
Last week The Hob was destroyed poor Delly was in the path of that destruction thankfully she wasn't alone. However, it's not over for the poor residents of District Twelve, The Capitol is always Watching...
"What is that noise?," Boudica complained.
They were all trapped inside of the bakery because of what happened at the Hob. the explosion at the Hob rocked the closest businesses. It reminded Peeta of the day Katniss lost her father. There was a similar panic in the crowd, many thought it was another such explosion in the mines. Others innocently ran toward the smoke wanting to help but were met with cold harsh cruelty of the Capitol.
Soon after, the Peacekeepers had descended upon town like locusts, scaring the already rattled residents. They scattered like insects running for their safety, gathering their loved ones in the process to keep them guarded against harm.
Peeta's father wisely decided to close down within minutes, sending the patrons home with bread for the night. Not even their mother complained about the early closures. They did this before the curfew was announced. For the rest of the afternoon, it was frightening to hear the cries and scared chaos of the people when the Peacekeepers began cracking down on anyone in the streets who hadn't made it home on time. Peeta had seen a Peacekeeper hit a man in the head with the butt of his weapon for not moving fast enough. It was disturbing to know the authority saw them as nothing more than worthless animals, expendable, easily erased from time.
As the sun set, they were upstairs when they heard the distressed call. Peeta frowned. It sounded so close but he couldn't make out where it came from.
"Seriously, where is it coming from," Boudica complained putting down her book.
"I don't know Boudica?" Eugene said.
"Maybe it's your nut stealer?" Rye snickered.
Rye's statement caused their mother to laugh. Peeta shook his head but he glanced up and saw Corky running along the rafters. Peeta wondered what he was up to. He grinned thinking of last night when they found their father screaming at the top of his lungs about his nuts. He chuckled.
His mother grinned. "I just think that if you needed a helmet, the colander is not the best choice. It has many holes." She broke down in laughter.
Rye cracked up.
It was good to hear laughter after the day they'd had. To think of all of those people who were gone was awful. There were casualties all across their district from those who lived in town to those from the Seam. Innocent people who had gone to the Hob to trade for services, because everything in town was expensive. People who wanted to help also paid a price.
It wasn't fair, and it rankled Peeta but he kept his opinion to himself. One day he wasn't going to continue to be a piece in the Capitol's Games. He was going to be a new man and independent man. Much the way Katniss was independent.
"My NUTS," both Rye and his mother cried laughing.
"Stop making fun of me, son. There's is a thief stealing my nuts, and dried fruit. When I catch them I'm going to shoot them and put them into a stew," Eugene grumbled.
"Settle down dad, you're no hunter, not like Katniss." Rye looked at Peeta and winked. "Katniss gets them right through the eyes. Right Peeta."
Peeta could feel the heat in his ears at the mention of Katniss name. He hoped she was okay and knew that she was probably worried about him and his family. He wished there was a way to let her know they were okay.
"Stop mentioning that girl. She is at least useful to her family," Boudica said.
The loud sound came again and it did not let up. It sounded like a wounded animal.
"What is that sound?" Boudica complained, "It's giving me a headache."
"I think it's coming from your room Peeta," Rye said getting up.
Together he and Rye walked into his bedroom. The noise became louder.
"Yup I think it's definitely coming from here," Rye mentioned the obvious.
Peeta went to his window. Low and behold Peeta found Buttercup outside of his window meowing at the top of its lungs. The poor cat was stuck outside on the branch that led to his window. It looked miserable.
"Buttercup," Peeta said opening his window. "How did you get up here?" No doubt Peeta thought Buttercup was chasing Corky and ended up stuck in the tree.
"You know that thing?" Rye backed away from the hissing cat.
"Yes."
"Geez it's ugly and it looks like it wants to eat you Peeta. Be careful, it could have a harmful disease."
Peeta took the poor cat in his arms. Buttercup began to purr and meow as if to tell the harrowing tale. "There, there, poor kitty," Peeta murmured. He looked to Rye who looked incredulous. "He's harmless."
"Harmless, he looks so scary looking he can take on an entire battalion of Peacekeepers and win by scaring them to death."
Peeta chuckled as he walked out of his room down to the living area. His mother and father had moved into their bedroom. "I'm going to feed him and send him on his way to his owner."
"That thing has an owner?"
Peeta grinned. "He belongs to the Everdeens."
"Crap it makes sense Katniss would keep such a ferocious beast around."
Peeta chuckled as he fed Buttercup some scraps of meat and water. "Poor little guy."
"Little, he looks bigger than Misty's dog."
Peeta chuckled at the thought of the pampered fat hairy dog. Rye was right, Buttercup was a huge cat and he did have eyes the color of rotting squash, an ear that had seen better days. He was probably on his last life.
"Too bad you can't have the little guy carry a note to your, ah, supposed friend," Rye muttered as he shook his head. "I'm going to my room to read or something. Let me know if you need anything like a bat for when that thing decides to attack you?"
Rye's crazy suggestion gave Peeta an idea. He sprinted up to his room and grabbed a piece of his notebook paper and pencil. Corky came out of hiding. "I don't know what you were up to, but you might as well stay hidden. Buttercup is here and I wouldn't want him to get any ideas."
Corky held two nuts in his hands. He twitched his nose before disappearing underneath the bed.
Peeta walked out and sat down and wrote a quick note for Katniss. He folded it and pinned it to one of his scarfs that he used as a kid. He wrapped the scarf around Buttercup. The cat stayed still. "This is going to help you with the cold so that you can make it home okay?"
Buttercup meowed as if he understood.
Peeta went downstairs, shut off the lights and opened the back door. Carrying Buttercup, he put him outside on the street. "Be careful and give my regards to Prim. Go find her, find Prim okay."
Buttercup meowed right before he took off. For an old cat, he was surprisingly nimble and quick. Peeta hoped his message wouldn't be lost. Somehow he knew it would reach its intended host.
Buttercup crept his way across town. He took the shortcut. The mental image of Primrose sustained him as he made his way to the Seam.
It was going to snow again. The clouds above looked heavy with the white stuff. It was cold outside, colder than on any other night. The residents of the Seam were uneasy. Especially Katniss who stood by the window waiting to hear from her sister and mother.
The first knock at the Everdeen door came shortly after lunch. Mr. Russert had escaped the chaos at the Hob with a bullet wound. His wife, Mrs. Russert came looking for help. Her mother and Prim leaped into action leaving with their medical kits. No sooner had they returned when there was another knock. In the end, her sister and mother decided to split up to tend to the wounded, leaving Katniss behind at the house.
Her mother or sister would pop in the house to gather supplies and to let Katniss know where they were off to next. It was now evening, and they were still out attending the last patient. Katniss looked out the window into the cold night. Oddly enough, there wasn't a heavy presence of Peacekeepers in the Seam. This afforded her family the opportunity to do their work.
There weren't many injured. Katniss counted fifteen calls for her mother or sister total, but it was small compared to the sixty lives that were missing or presumed dead inside the Hob. Amongst those was Jeb. Katniss watched from the window down the road to Jeb's home. His house stood empty, cold, no light lit the windows. Katniss wondered what other families would wake up tomorrow, their hopes for a miracle dashed when the realization came that their loved ones were never coming back.
Katniss recalled her own childhood and that sleepless night when she and her mother stayed up hoping for such a miracle. It never came and that day Katniss lost her father, mother, and her childhood innocence. Today, the attack was vicious and the shock and despair settled like a blanket of snow over the district. Hopelessness was written on the faces of the residents who passed by her window. The loss of hope lit a fire within Katniss. More than ever she wanted to do something or leave the district altogether. Things were getting progressively worse.
Sitting down, she thought about the events of the day. First was that darned shadow. It was so strange, all of her hunting senses led her to believe there was someone or something in the back alley of the Bakery headed toward the center of town. She couldn't help the feeling that they were being watched or monitored. She rubbed her arms as an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of the stomach.
She pondered if the shadow had something to do with what happened today. Katniss knew something was up when she didn't see Peacekeepers this morning. She looked down at her books spread out on the kitchen table. Her intention was to work on her homework to keep her mind away from all of the dark thoughts whirling in her mind.
But nothing could stop her from going down the rabbit's hole as the work her family did was dangerous. If caught, her sister and mother could be shot, a strict curfew was in place. Katniss could only imagine what it was like in town. According to rumors, there were a few Merchants who died today too.
This put her in a tizzy because she knew Peeta and his family went to the Hob. She held onto Rye's warning about staying away from the Hob. She hoped Peeta had heeded his brother's warning as well.
Katniss looked out of the window before putting another piece of wood in the potbelly. It was getting colder outside. The chickens were clucking contentedly, Lady bleated, and that darned cat was nowhere to be found. Katniss guessed Buttercup was out and about spreading mischief.
The door of her home opened, and Prim and her mother came rushing in.
"Quick," Prim urged, "sit at the table."
The urgent tone in her sister's voice made Katniss grab her book and sit at the table. She busied herself with the Romeo and Juliet book they were supposed to be reading in school. .Prim rushed out of the room and came back with her bookbag.
"Peacekeepers on their way." Lavender washed her hands quickly.
Prim sat down, opening up her book bag and taking out one notebook, a pencil, and her math homework that she'd begun last night. Prim glanced up and gave Katniss a quick smile.
Their mother put a pan on the pot belly stove and she cracked a few eggs into a bowl to scramble and put them to fry. Soon the scent of food filled the home.
The door of their home was opened abruptly, startling all three women.
Two Peacekeepers came into the house with their weapons pointed at them. One pointed the end of his weapon into their mother's chest. Lavender quietly pushed the pan away from the fire and raised her hands in the air and came to stand by Katniss.
"Who lives here?" The Peacekeeper demanded.
"Just us, sir," Katniss spoke up.
"Search the premises," the Peacekeeper with the weapon pointing at them ordered.
Katniss sat still as the Peacekeeper stared at them through his visor.
The radio crackled as the Base Command checked in with the other units. There were other spot checks going on. Katniss hope they didn't go to the houses of the wounded or that they were able to hide them so that they wouldn't be found. It would be tragic if those poor souls survived the attack only to be dragged from the safety of their homes to die so close to freedom.
Her gray eyes drifted down to the book she was attempting to read, Romeo and Juliet. There was a time the premise of the book would have bothered her. The star-crossed lover's willingness to die was so implausible, but knowing Peeta, she wouldn't hesitate to lay her life down for his. Peeta was one of the good ones, just like her sister. While she did stalk him, even though she would never admit it to him, she was glad she spent years climbing up to his window to see him and make sure he was well.
There was a loud noise that brought her to the present.
Katniss could hear the other one searching through their home. She heard when he went into the bedrooms. There was a scraping sound as furniture was moved. When he opened the bathroom door it squealed as it scrapped on the floor.
His radio crackled once more. This time the voice was clear, "Squad Twenty-Seven, please report."
"Base Command, squad twenty-seven reporting in."
"Are you at property S73 checking for possible escapees."
"Roger."
"Anything to report?"
"Nothing yet."
The cold air slipped in through the open door. It was stronger than the heat the potbelly stove was emitting. Katniss wanted to rub her arms to ward off the cold but was afraid any sudden movement could get her shot.
The chickens clucked, they hated the cold weather and so did Katniss.
"What about those?" The Peacekeeper pointed to the chickens and Lady the goat. "Do you have permission to have those?"
"The paperwork is on the top shelf," Lavender said.
The second Peacekeeper came in. "The house is clear. There is no one else but them three, sir."
"Hand me the paperwork on the shelf," commanded the Peacekeeper that had the weapon pointed in the general direction of the paperwork.
The second man went and retrieved the paperwork.
"Check it to see if it is compliant?"
The Peacekeeper with the paperwork touched a button on his shoulder. The radio crackled from the uniform. "Squad twenty-seven, requesting service."
"Roger, Squad twenty-seven, this is Command Base, what service do you need?"
"We need confirmation of documentation."
"Roger, please scan."
Like before, a red beam came out of the helmet and scanned each page. "Scan complete," the Peacekeeper said.
Katniss waited with bated breath until the radio crackled again, hoping the paperwork was still good enough. They had limited resources, and if they took away Lady or the chickens they wouldn't have anything for a meal source. Fear gripped her insides. Without food, they would starve.
The radio crackled, "Squad Twenty-Seven, documentation is Capitol Compliant. Is everything else Capitol Compliant?"
Katniss held her breath. These were the men who set fire to the Hob. They could very well lie just to punish them unfairly.
"Confirming, no suspicious or non-compliant activities at property S73?"
"Please confirm once more," Base Command demanded.
The Peacekeeper holding the weapon lowered it. His companion shook his head no. He pressed his button. "The house is clear all is Capitol Compliant."
"Roger, leave premises and head back to base."
"Roger," the Peacekeeper said. His voice sounded upset as if he was looking forward to hurting them. Turning to his companion, he said, "Let's go."
They left, leaving the door open, but as they left she heard one of the Peacekeeper say. "Jumpin' Jehosaphat what the hell is that?"
Katniss heard the distinct meow of one nasty cat.
"Buttercup," Prim whispered.
Getting up, Katniss ran to the door and saw that the Peacekeepers were pressed up against a tree that was in their yard. Buttercup hissed and his hair was on end. She wanted to laugh as these were the very men who were just threatening their lives. That mangy cat had put the fear of life into them.
"Shoo," Katniss ordered. The cat growled, before harrumphing and walking away into the house. "Sorry about that."
As soon as the danger was over the first guy left in a huff. The second Peacekeeper lingered. "That gargoyle sure is ugly."
"My sister loves that thing. I would love to get rid of it but," Katniss shrugged.
"I once had a sister who was just like that. She would take anything in. She would've loved that beast."
Katniss watched him walk away. She hadn't seen a Peacekeeper act humanely since Darius was a Peacekeeper. There was more to the men stationed in District Twelve. Some were like robots, coldly doing the job like they were programmed. Others had a heart and she was sure that if someone could reach them they would be different people.
Turning around, she entered her home.
"Katniss," Prim said excitedly.
"What's going on?" Her sister looked far too happy after what happened today.
"Peeta saved my Buttercup. He put a scarf around him to keep him warm."
"How do you know it was Peeta?"
"The scarf smells like cinnamon and dill and there is a note that is addressed to you."
Katniss turned red.
"Don't worry, Katniss. We didn't read it," Lavender promised.
Katniss sighed as she sat. Carefully she opened the folded piece of paper and read it.
"Katniss we are all fine, none of us are harmed - Peeta." Katniss sagged against the chair.
"Well?" Prim held Buttercup to her chest.
"He's okay and so is his family." Katniss clutched the note to her chest, hearing from him, seeing his handwriting was a welcome sight. She was ecstatic to know he and his family had survived and were nowhere near the Hob.
"That is good to hear," Lavender said. Her mother was finishing up the eggs and toasting bread. She began to serve them before sitting down.
Katniss nodded.
"I was afraid something happened to him, I am so glad he's alright," Prim said.
"I can't believe Buttercup brought the note," Katniss gave Prim the other half of her toast.
"Buttercup is brave enough to take on the Peacekeepers." Prim smiled fondly at the furry menace.
"I think Buttercup should stay away from any impending danger." Katniss didn't want her sister's heart to be broken over the mangy cat.
"Speaking of staying away from impending danger," Lavender said, "I think now that you know that he's alright you should stay up at least until this dies down. It's very dangerous out there and the presence of those two Peacekeepers here tonight definitely points to our family being watched."
Her mother was right. She couldn't see Peeta until this dissipated and things became safer. Katniss didn't want to inadvertently have the Peacekeepers put their sights on Peeta and his family. "I agree. I'll stay away."
"It's going to be hard, but it will be worth it in the long run," Lavender said standing up. "I don't know about you, but I could use a good cup of tea before bed."
Katniss sat back she was going to miss Peeta terribly.